'Cats claim district championship

Wildcat play at Los Lunas in 3-game series

Deming High dropped the first game of a district double header 4-0 and were pressed to come away with a victory against the host Centennial Hawks in game two on Saturday at the Field of Dreams in Las Cruces.

"The first game was a great game," said DHS Baseball Coach Fernie Holguin. "We just couldn't score any runs."

A run differential came into play at that points. Deming would need to win game two and it had to be by four or more runs to claim the District 3-4A championship.

"We trailed 3-1 at first, but we stuck with it," Holguin said. "The kids kept working at it and made some big plays and got some big hits for the 10-4 win. ...We actually beat them by two (run differential)."

Senior slugger Isaiah Almanza delivered the key hit in the top of the fifth inning for the Wildcats when he spanked a bases-loaded triple. Almanza's stroke cashed in three runs and Deming jumped in front of the Hawks 4-3 and never looked back.

Deming (14-12, 9-3) earned the No. 9 seed and will play against Los Lunas, the No. 8 seed in Class 4A State Baseball Playoffs.

Los Lunas (16-9) was runnerup in the District 6-4A and will host Deming for a three-game series this weekend. Game times are at 4 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday. If necessary, the rubber game of the set will be at noon on Saturday..

"I thought we would be the No. 8 seed, but it didn't work out that way," Holguin said.